If summer arrived a week ago, what is happening now is the end of unwanted calls. Or at least that is what the new amendment to the General Telecommunications Act is aiming for. Basically it is forbidden to make commercial calls without consent before its recipient.
However, there are legal loopholes through which we can continue to receive them. Therefore, we are looking at the circumstances in which this case can occur and, if it is illegal to receive them, we will tell you how you can claim.
Why can we continue to receive these calls?
First of all, it is necessary to examine where the new general law on telecommunications and How should it be applied by companies?. For this we go to article 66 of the aforementioned law, which literally says the following.
“In order to further protect the legitimate interests of consumers and users, the transmission, by the operators, of unsolicited telephone calls by the consumer and/or user for the purpose or effect of promoting or selling goods or services. The foregoing restriction will not apply as long as there is prior consent of the consumer and/or user to receive commercial communications allowing the user.”
Summary: nothing to make commercial calls for the purpose of promoting products or services, unless you have the express permission of the consumer. And makes the law, makes the trap. Never better said in this case.
Actually we may have given our consent without being aware of it. As? Well, in the already classic terms of service that, as a rule, we accept without reading them in full when registering on a website, application or registering a service. Companies can take advantage of these conditions to add the authorization to make commercial calls.
There may also be another circumstance related to what is called phone theft. This term refers to all the techniques used to falsify the identity of the call recognition systems that our mobiles have. So it may be that under the number calling you it says “Seville” or any other Spanish city and it turns out that they are calling you from Peru. This case was real recently.
There are two possibilities here, that the caller is a scammer pretending to be a real company, which is already serious in itself, whether or not it does not comply with this new regulation. The other possibility is that is a real Spanish company, but calls from abroad. And even if it is not usual, it is possible.
You will say: “I am in Europe, the law here must be applied”. And you will not lack reason in this argument, but the truth is that, as confirmed by the Spanish Data Protection Agency, Spanish law cannot be applied to calls from other territories. So, in these cases, there will be no choice but to block the numbers and follow other tips regarding the fight against unwanted calls on Android.
How to complain if you receive a spam call from Europe
Obviously, it can also happen that you receive a commercial call from a Spanish operator, from Europe and you really have not given your prior consent. Here yes we would talk about breaking the lawyou therefore have every right to lodge a formal complaint.
As confirmed by the OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users), there is three ways to file a claimand can even perform all three simultaneously:
- Via OCU: the Organization itself will deal with all kinds of complaints related to this issue. On their website they provide all the instructions for this
- Via the AEPD: The Spanish Data Protection Agency has a lot to say in reference to this new law, so receiving unwanted calls from now on will be cause for complaint through its usual channels, such as on its website.
- To the company itself: If it was a genuine business that made the call, you can file a complaint yourself with their corresponding complaints department. However, it is more judicious to let the company know about these practices than for them to have a real effect, since there is no obligation to make public the complaints received.
Finally, as we always recommend, if the call received is a scam and you have been the victim for accepting what they asked for, filing a complaint with a Civil Guard or National Police station remains the best way to file a complaint. And, of course, completely block the phone number that made the call, and let your bank know if in the process you exposed any account or card information.
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